Andrew Holmes

AM FRS FAA FTSE

Inaugural veski innovation fellow

Professor Andrew Holmes was awarded the inaugural veski innovation Fellowship worth more than $500,000 over five years. Professor Holmes took up his position in October 2004. He returned to Melbourne from Cambridge University to work in the new $100 million Bio21 Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Institute.

Research project description:Designed conjugated organic and polymeric materials will be prepared and evaluated as the active layer in optoelectronic devices, particularly light emitting displays (LEDs), field effect transistors (FETs) and solar cells. Improved materials with stable blue emission will be developed. Advanced organometallic conjugated polymers will harness the lost triplet energy as phosphorescence in LEDs and so raise potential device efficiency in the vicinity of 100%. Active layer materials in FETs will have improved supramolecular order and processibility to improve charge mobility, while the photovoltaic materials will be developed to show non-dispersive hole transport properties. The patterned deposition of materials for plastic electronics will be developed using a revolutionary deposition technique involving supercritical carbon dioxide.

Key facts:

Awarded a 2012 Royal Medal by the Royal Society

University of Melbourne Laureate Professor of Chemistry

CSIRO Fellow

Returned to Melbourne in 2004

Worked as a postdoctoral fellow on the final stages of the synthesis of vitamin B12 with Professor A. Eschenmoser

Completed his undergraduate education at the University of Melbourne and a PhD degree with Professor Franz Sondheimer at University College London